Last minute running around!

Just getting my last things organized before we leave for the yoga holiday on Saturday. Grandma arrives tonight so the kids are going to have a real treat when they wake in the morning and find her here! The owner of the villa is kindly buying some essentials for me so I can have a cup of tea with soya milk! I am trying today to leave the websites in a good state in case I cannot update whilst I am away. I started a new social network for yoga and health which is picking up nicely - www.yogababy.ning.com but I really want some more members so if you or anyone else you know is interested in anything yoga related, please spread the word. Yoga Baby is going really well now, we have been in magazines and on the news so viewing figures are up! I will be filming a new show soon too so looking forward to that. It's all go here! Speaking of which, Mr Miller just woken from his morning nap so I'd best be off!

Benefits of being vegan

I realized on my way to the studio this morning that I may appear very negative with respect to writing about veganism, however I am in general a positive individual. I guess it is just that those things that seems unfair and cruel tend to stick in your mind the most and that is what drives the need to write a post about it. As I have said previously, being vegan is difficult at times as your awareness is raised as to what animals have to endure and what used to pass unnoticed now slaps you in the face. Yesterday for example I was almost sick in the petrol station paying for fuel as all I could smell was cooking bacon and it smelt so disgusting. For me, the image of burning dead flesh of a helpless, possibly tortured creature cannot be separated. Yet being vegan also brings with it an amazing quality of life. So today I want to talk about the positive aspects of being vegan. I did touch on this in one of my early posts, just after I had changed my lifestyle from pesco vegetarian (fish eating vegetarian) to vegan so now I thought I would make sense to talk about the benefits 8 months later. Everyone is different and I am not saying that these are benefits to everyone following a vegan diet, all I can say is that these effects are real to me and I would like to share them!

1. The psychological benefits: Knowing that I do not contribute to animal suffering makes me feel better about myself as a person. I do not eat the flesh of animal, chew their dead ribs, crunch on their skin, chew minced up body parts, spread smoothed out paste from animal organs on my sandwiches, drink milk intended for that particular animals babies which are taken away from them and usually killed, grate cheese that a small calf may have been killed for a part of its stomach, wear leather that has been skinned off a helpless animal, use cream that has parts of a murdered pig in it, eat eggs from a hen that might have had its eyes pecked out by its neighbour, trapped so close together they have gone mad.....I could go on but my point is that knowing I do not do this makes me feel more alive and part of a change in the world that will come.

2. The physical benefits: I have so much more energy since giving up dairy and my diet is so much more exciting. Before I stuck to the same meals, repeated over and over, now I am looking for new things, choosing new ingredients and experimenting and it is a lot more fun and I feel my body is getting more nutrients and I feel I am taking better care of myself. My skin is amazing, no blotches, no cellulite, no lumps of fat under the skin, a better skin colour and smoother skin in general. My breath is always fresh and doesn't smell of rotting food (sorry meat eaters but you do smell of meat a lot of the time). My figure has changed, not only did I drop a lot of weight in the first month but my shape has changed, admittedly I practice yoga regularly but have always done that so veganism must have made the difference...and it's a good difference. My nails are stronger and I have half moons at the bottom of the nail (I was always told that was a good sign you are getting enough calcium) where I never had them before, my hair is softer and shiner (I used to colour my hair but now it looks so healthy I no longer do it), my joints never feel stiff, I have fewer colds and I have less bags under my eyes even though Heidi still wakes me up at 6am most mornings!

I am sure I've missed some but I hope this list gives you some food for thought and if the psychological benefits don't get you, maybe you'd like some of the physical benefits! What's the harm in giving it a go for a month or even a week and see how you feel. What could you lose, apart from an ingrained untruth that meat eating is acceptable.

Weekend & weaning

First I would just like to comment on this picture. I wrote the blog entry below and knowing how difficult it is to read the first few lines I thought I'd add another pic. I went onto flicker creative commons and looked up baby bottle (can't remember the exact words but something like that) and this came up near the top. It made me quite emotional.

Anyway, must go as Matthew has just slid off the icy road and our car is now in a ditch... more on that next time, here's the blog entry!....

So I have just finished my preparations for my yoga and health weekend which starts tomorrow morning. I am really looking forward to a whole weekend of yoga, breathing exercises, relaxation, posture focus, discussion and good company. Although I am teaching it feels like time out for me in a way, considering most of my time is spent looking after two very young children!

I have taken the decision recently to partially wean Miller to make it easier for me to get out and do a few more things now. I have researched the issue and know most would recommend as a vegan wanting to raise vegan children that I should continue nursing for at least a full year but it is difficult. I teach in the evenings and Matthew was struggling to give Miller a bottle so I opted to express and combine bottle and nursing. However, that's not as easy as it sounds and my supply has dimished somewhat. So we are on a mixture of nursing and formula (I cannot get dairy free formula so I think Miller will have to have this until he is at least one.) I have to have a weekend away from home soon too so at least I feel comfortable knowing Miller is happy with a bottle and with Daddy putting him to bed sometimes (they get some special feeding time together too which is a plus).

Matthew is helping me cook a vegan lunch for the weekend tomorrow. He is making paella and he's pretty good at playing chef so I'm glad to have him onboard! I have made a carrot cake, some chocolate flapjacks and some of the mushroom and almond pate which I made for the first time just a few weeks ago and now love more than anything. I have bought a selection of breads and fruits too. I think..or at least I hope the group will be in for a pleasant surprise.

And so to bed to get some rest!